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EDITORS’ NOTES

Like many great rock duos before them, Royal Blood manage to create a sound that’s greater then the sum of their parts. On the outfit’s self-titled debut album, Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher combine for an unabashedly heavy blend of bristling riffs and deep, canyon-like grooves that have made fans out of Jimmy Page, Arctic Monkeys, and Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis. Using an armada of pedals and amps, Kerr plays a bass guitar like a standard six-string; this creative choice lends an inherent, unrelenting menace to Royal Blood. On the outstanding opener, “Out of the Black,” Thatcher’s sternum-rattling drum work is Dave Grohl–like in both its power and precision, while Kerr’s colossal guitar and vocal turns recall the arena-ready theatrics of Muse’s Matthew Bellamy. In the squeal and squall of “Careless” and “Figure It Out,” Kerr conjures the corroded, wonderfully pugnacious guitar sounds of iconic two-piece frontman Jack White. No matter their reference points, Royal Blood has an attack that's ruthlessly direct.

EDITORS’ NOTES

Like many great rock duos before them, Royal Blood manage to create a sound that’s greater then the sum of their parts. On the outfit’s self-titled debut album, Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher combine for an unabashedly heavy blend of bristling riffs and deep, canyon-like grooves that have made fans out of Jimmy Page, Arctic Monkeys, and Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis. Using an armada of pedals and amps, Kerr plays a bass guitar like a standard six-string; this creative choice lends an inherent, unrelenting menace to Royal Blood. On the outstanding opener, “Out of the Black,” Thatcher’s sternum-rattling drum work is Dave Grohl–like in both its power and precision, while Kerr’s colossal guitar and vocal turns recall the arena-ready theatrics of Muse’s Matthew Bellamy. In the squeal and squall of “Careless” and “Figure It Out,” Kerr conjures the corroded, wonderfully pugnacious guitar sounds of iconic two-piece frontman Jack White. No matter their reference points, Royal Blood has an attack that's ruthlessly direct.